Isaiah 51

1Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were dug.

2Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you. For he was only one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many.

3For Yahweh comforts Zion; he comforts all her ruins. He makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of Yahweh. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

4Pay attention to me, my people; listen to me, my nation. For instruction will go out from me, and I will make my justice a light for the peoples.

5My righteousness draws near; my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. The coastlands wait for me, and they hope in my arm.

6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live in it will die in the same way. But my salvation will last forever, and my righteousness will never fail.

7Listen to me, you who know righteousness, you people who have my instruction in your hearts: do not fear the reproach of mere mortals, and do not be dismayed by their insults.

8For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, and my salvation through all generations.

9Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh! Awake as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced the sea monster?

10Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over?

11The ransomed of Yahweh will return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

12I, I am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of mortals who die, of human beings who are made like grass?

13You have forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in constant dread all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, as he sets himself to destroy. But where is the fury of the oppressor?

14The one bowed down in chains will soon be set free; he will not die and go down to the pit, and he will not lack bread.

15For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Armies is his name.

16I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, to plant the heavens, to lay the foundations of the earth, and to say to Zion, “You are my people.”

17Wake up, wake up! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath, who have drunk the bowl, the cup that makes people stagger, and drained it to the dregs.

18Of all the sons she bore, there is none to guide her; of all the sons she raised, there is none to take her by the hand.

19These two things have happened to you—who will grieve with you?—devastation and destruction, famine and sword. How can I comfort you?

20Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope caught in a net. They are full of the wrath of Yahweh, the rebuke of your God.

21So hear this now, you afflicted one, drunk, but not with wine.

22This is what Yahweh your Lord says, your God who defends the cause of his people: See, I have taken from your hand the cup that makes you stagger; the bowl, the cup of my wrath, you will never drink again.

23I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, “Lie down, so that we may walk over you,” and you made your back like the ground, like a street for them to walk over.